Transcription
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
So, let us again just quiet ourselves down. Remembering that silence is this great gift. Silence is not an absence. It's not a negative. It's fullness, the fullness of silence. Dom Forgeot, very holy man and Abbot of Fontgombault, he used to he wrote a few passages on monastic silence and how important it is because it's only in silence that we can listen to the word. And remember, silence is a lot more than simply silence of speaking. We can have silence of the emotions. Silence of the senses. Silence of the intellect. Silence of the will. Because that is Jesus told Luisa we must do is to silence all these things so that going down into almost nothingness. Jesus uses the idea of going back to the moment just when we about to conceive. When we have silenced everything, we can then pick everything up and go.
So, let us place simply this time together into his divine will, handing over everything to him so that he acts in us because we remove the obstacle, the small pebble, anything that stands in the way of his eternal operation. And we pray for the coming of the kingdom in our hearts and in the world.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Mary, queen of the divine will and our mother, pray for us. Do not let us go from outside your mantle, and keep us from returning to our own will. Saint Joseph, guardian of the divine will, pray for us. Saint Hannibal, and little servant Louisa.
So, just wanted to do tie a few things together, and the par- the parables that we've been hearing in Matthew's gospel are very useful for this. In fact, the whole image that we've had over the last few weeks of the sower, the seed, the field, the evil, the darnel, or the weeds. Jesus himself, as we will see, comments on these in a couple of passages. And it gives us then a great insight into deeper and deeper levels of meaning. And we could say the thing that ties this together is what comes right at the end. The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.
I'm just going to do another different translation. So, we get another sense. Then, the good will shine out like the sun in their father's kingdom. The man who has ears should use them. So, for those who are alert to language, they will pick up very quickly at the end that Jesus is therefore not only talking about the world, the good seed, the enemy that sowed them, the devil, the harvest, the reapers that are the angels. Jesus himself goes through this. But, he also lays out for us little nuggets that we can seize on so that we can then amplify this interpretation. So, straight away when we hear that the good will shine out like the sun in their father's kingdom, that should immediately call to mind the children of the kingdom of the divine will. So, once we have that in our mind, we can start looking at and seeing what Jesus is doing in these parables, so that it's as if what Jesus and the inspired writers do is that they give plenty of food for thought for all those that came before this era. So, they could reach this mystical marriage, people like the Curé of Ars, John of the Cross. But, that embedded in them is a much, much deeper meaning that enables us then to see for our era the depths of what Jesus is saying.
So, the advantage of a search machine is that it enables you to pick out different things um from the passages. In other words, one can see where Jesus is Just think, one sec. Doing all these things. So, I want to start with October the 20th 1923 volume 60. October the 20th 19 23 volume 60. Luisa and it's always worthwhile when we read the diaries to play close attention to what often comes before Jesus' teaching. Because through this we get a sense of what Luisa is spending her time doing and also the movements in her soul. It should also be a source of consolation when we too in this journey face difficulties and trials.
Luisa says, "I felt all annihilated within myself. The privations of Jesus throw me into the most profound humiliation. Without Jesus, I feel the interior of my soul devastated. It seems that all the good declines and dies. My Jesus, my Jesus, how hard is your privation? Oh, my heart bleeds in seeing that everything dies in me because the one who is life and the only one who can give life is not with me."
So, again, the suffering of Luisa when she feels the apparent privation of Jesus because remember Jesus reassures her in many areas that of course he couldn't leave her. Why couldn't he leave her? Because Louisa living in the divine will has within her soul Jesus' real life. But in this mystical way and remember Louisa mystic so that language is pointing towards but can never totally capture what is going on within her. But notice again how for Louisa she's reached the stage here in 1923 where life is all about Jesus that without him there is no life.
So Jesus then comes and consoles her. "My daughter why do you afflict yourself so much? Abandon yourself in me and let me do and when it seems to you that everything declines and dies your Jesus will make everything rise again but more beautiful and more fecund."
So Jesus then in that little sentence gives us advice, teaching because remember he's teaching Louisa but he knows these volumes are for all the children of the kingdom. So he is saying then to us when you have moments of difficulty, when you have moments of feeling lost. When you can't concentrate. When it seems that you're doing nothing worthwhile. Abandon yourself in him. And that's one of the three great acts that we can make. The act of abandonment is one of them. As long as well as acts of resignation and acts of fusing.
So what does abandon mean? It means that we reach a stage where we simply hand over to Jesus our particular state that our soul is in. And so what he's doing in this is through our life he is bringing in us a constant dying and rising. Just as nature the sun rises the sun sets and the cycle begins again. He explains to Luisa in the volumes that this is how he works with the soul. It's almost a game of hide and seek. That Jesus at times this seems to distance himself seems to be absent because he is encouraging us at that moment to throw everything upon him. Because so often when things are going smoothly and right, we find that more difficult and we can forget. But that simple act of abandonment is so powerful because it gives God great pleasure. And when we make it, Jesus says that then he will make everything rise again. More beautiful and more fruitful.
It's a bit It's not an apt parallel, but it's the only one I can think of. It's a bit like in sport when a coach takes a athlete and pushes them to their limit. They're doing so so that through that they can pass hurdles and become fitter and more robust and faster. So Jesus has to give us these cycles to train us into learn us this important act of abandonment. Of just giving everything to Jesus. That's so powerful because it is an act of humility. The soul that everything to Jesus is acknowledging us acknowledging to him the soul's nothingness, the soul's powerlessness. Whereas when we try to put things right in our own strength our own solutions nothing seems to work. And this is something that is helpful teaching people, bringing up children, grandchildren. This is important to teach them that there is this to and and froing, rising and falling throughout life. And therefore, in difficult moments, not to despair, but to actually see it as an opportunity to rise higher. And that's an important prayer we can make, taken from the hours of the passion, that we can particularly go to those who have heavy crosses, great suffering, to take them the blood of Christ, so that in these moments of grace, in other words, they recognize the suffering as a grace of Jesus, a treasured grace, that they do not despair, but abandon themselves to Christ. That's in fact what Jesus does, isn't it? At the last moment on the cross, he just says, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." And again, in the hours of the passion, Louisa teaches us that that is a good phrase to have during our life. Whatever is happening, we can simply use that phrase, "Into your hands I commend my spirit." It's a beautiful act of abandonment.
So now he goes on. "You know that the soul is my field." So we can see now he's taking these parables that he's used the sower and the seed, the one we've had today and he's saying that the soul is my field in which I work, sow, and harvest. So it means we've got another lens to look at the parable that we had today of the wheat and the weeds or sometimes it's called tares or darnel. There's different translations. But it gives us an idea then to look into our soul as this field. And it's in the soul that Jesus is going to work, sow, and harvest.
Now why? Why are these parables so important and taking up so much of these chapters of Matthew's gospel? Because with the prism of the divine will we can see now the importance, the absolute importance that Jesus attaches to producing children that will live in his divine will. In other words, these parables go far beyond the warnings, which of course they are. They are also warnings to souls to convert. They're warnings to souls of the four last things, death and judgment, heaven and hell. But, remember always that we are not only looking at redemption, but more importantly we're looking at sanctification.
So, Jesus then is using these parables for those of us that have ears to hear and saying, "Look, I not only came to Earth to sow seeds for souls to produce great fruit like the great saints, Teresa of Avila, Therese, Faustina, Benedict, Francis, whatever saints you name. They did great work. They produced hundredfold crop. But, that pales in the face of a person and a soul that lives in his will. Because then that soul becomes a being of light. And why is that important? Because this being of light, a soul, whether it lives in the divine will or is simply using the divine will on loan, that soul now impacts all of creation.
One of the things I've noticed in the different people I talk with, and I've started having some interaction with a lady in New Zealand, and I also talked to I forget her name. Gillian might correct me or Mark, the lady that runs a divine will group in Samoa. I think it's Cena or Zita. It's along those lines. Beautiful >> Yeah, it's Zita, Father. That's right. Zita. >> Zita. She was She's a really beautiful soul and it was a privilege to talk with her. But what was interesting and this is something that Tony was also saying to me. What is interesting is that many people now, you know, the Divine Will in these groups has been going for a number of years that even within Zita's group a number of people still don't understand the importance of these acts. These are central. Jesus is sowing these seeds in the soul. He wants to produce a soul that is going to live in his will so that that soul working or allowing God to work within it produces light and remember light, this uncreated light is God. So, Zita was saying when she would describe to her group the acts and the rounds she would do during the day the reaction would often be, "That seems far too heavy. Do we have to keep on doing those things?" But what that indicates is that we have we can forget the whole reason behind this gift. Because what we have to remember it when we call it a gift which it certainly is, we mean that it is nothing we can do to deserve it. It is freely given. We shouldn't think of it as a thing. So, you know what? Christmas or at birthdays, we wrap a present up and we say this here is a gift and we accept it. We unwrap it and whatever the present is. That's not living in the divine will. The divine will is not a gift. It's not a thing we receive and simply use. Admittedly Luisa and Jesus can use images of machines, but that's only because we can identify that with our own experience. But living in the divine will is not a thing. It's you could say a person, a relationship. It's a mode of being whereby we are enabled through a grace to have our acts, the things we do elevated to become divine. That we've got to keep hold of. That the whole purpose of the acts is so that when we receive the gift, it enables what we do to become divine. And why is that so important? Because a divine act is infinite without end. It's perfect. So, perfect means there is nothing lacking to it. And it's eternal. Which again is a difficult word because eternal is not the same as infinite. Infinite means without end, whereas eternal is a certain mode of being. That's why living in the divine will is an eternal operation. And by doing that the simplest act being now infinite, perfect, and eternal at the same time affects all of creation past present and future. It affects all the realms. The realm of the angels of heaven of purgatory of hell even.
So, just think about that. As Derek used the image once when I remember him listening to it, you take I don't have a glass of water here, but imagine taking a glass of water. That simple act, [clears throat] if the soul desires it, asks Jesus, "Please, give me this gift on loan." The moment the soul desires that, is in a state of grace, removes the pebble of its will. Everything, every molecule, every atom, I think molecules are smaller than atoms, from the furthest reaches of the galaxy, from the beginning of creation to the end, immediately fills up. It's amazing. I mean, it's just totally amazing. And that's why thinking about these things and pondering them helps us to have a greater intentionality about what we're doing. In other words, we It's good still to do our acts. Lord, come wash in my washing. Lord, come pray my pray, come eat in my eating. Jesus himself says, "That's how we must be from now to the end of our life." But the more we learn about what we're doing, the greater is our concentration on that. And therefore, it magnifies that which is taking place. So, this is what we must always remember. These acts are the gold dust. They're the coin that enables us to buy back souls, to give praise to God.
Now, someone who had an insight into this, although he lived before the divine will was available, but he still wrote a beautiful book abandonment to divine providence, Pierre de Caussade. I like his volume of letters. I find them very helpful. He writes to a sister who is worried that Pierre is going because he has been moved, he's been given a different job, which is busier for him, which will have more stress and tension. She's worried that this will affect him. And he says, "My dear sister, I'm touched by your sympathy in my trials, but I'm glad to be able to reassure you. It is true that at first I suffered acutely on seeing myself charged with a quantity of business and anxieties contrary to my attraction for solitude and silence." So, this will apply to a lot of you. There'll be times when you're busier, you have anxieties, business you've got to do that will seem to burden your desire for solitude and silence. So, the sister's concerned about this, but he writes, "But see how providence has come to my aid. God gives me the grace to remain unattached to all these affairs so that my spirit remains always free. I abandon their successful issue. Notice the word abandon. What Jesus has told Louisa, abandon yourself in me. I abandon their successful issue to his paternal care so that nothing distresses me. Often things go all right and I give thanks to God. Sometimes everything goes wrong. I again bless his holy name and offer him the sacrifice of my efforts." So again, he's got this abandonment that things go right, praise God. Things go wrong, we still bless his holy name. Once this sacrifice has been made, God arranges everything. Already our good master has prepared several of these agreeable surprises for me. As for leisure, I have more than anywhere else. So here we have he's been moved jobs. He should be busier. His attraction to silence and solitude would be more difficult, but divine providence organizes everything. At the moment visits are rare because I only pay them out of duty and pure necessity. Our fathers themselves who know my taste soon finish their business with me and as they are convinced that I do not act as I do out of pride or misanthropy, no one disapproves of my behavior. Moreover, I am not as dead as you think, but God gives me the grace not to bother about disapproval when I'm following the path on which he calls me. So, again, what Jesus teaches Louisa in volume one, not to be concerned about creatures. Our concern is to please him only. If he is content, that is enough. All the rest is a mere nothing. In a few days, we shall make our appearance before this great God, this sovereign master, this infinite being. Now, this is the sentence I like. "Of what use then, and for all eternity, will anything be that was not done for his sake and animated by his grace and spirit?" I'm going to come back to that sentence. If these simple truths were a little more familiar to us, what peace of heart and mind should we not enjoy already in our present life? From how many vain fears and desires and anxieties, both from this life and the next, should we not be delivered?
So, let's go back to that sentence. "Of what use then, and for all eternity, will anything be that was not done for his sake and animated by his grace and spirit?" So, think about those phrases. It's very profound. He's saying then, that anything we do has to have two things to make it of any use both in the world and in all eternity. They must be done for his sake and animated by his grace and spirit. Now, remember but animated means to give life. To give life. So, Jesus already animates us in the sense that everything we do everything we say our breathing the ground we walk on, the chair we're sitting on they only can be because God keeps them in being. This is called the grace of sustaining all things. So, in our rounds, we can often we're often for good reasons attracted to nature. They come naturally. But how often do we take time to thank God for the floor we walk on? For the breath we take? So, given that he is already animating our actions Coussaud is saying then that it must be moved, it must originate in God. If those two things are present, they will be of great value. And they will produce, Caussade says, great peace of mind. So, his whole letters, his whole book is to just get this simple truth through to his readers that if we concentrate on this, nothing can disturb us.
Now, why am I spending time on this? De Caussade, who's not a saint, actually. It's interesting that both Brother Lawrence and Pierre De Caussade, who wrote two classics, are not officially canonized. The reason I stress this is, one, it shows the preparation for the gift. But it also shows the difference. Pierre De Caussade, in following this, could become a great saint. He could become tremendously peaceful. Like Brother Lawrence, nothing troubled him. Whether he was in the kitchen or answering the door, nothing fazed him. Totally placid. So, these people reached great sanctity. But, however great this was, their effect was only for the time in which they lived. So, great as these people were, that that effect and the impact of that acts were limited because they received a divine grace to animate them, but it wasn't in the eternal operation.
I will explain this then I'll take some questions because this is important. All these saints that before the gift was available could affect have a great effect on souls, the salvation of souls, they could have a great effect on the praise of God. But they weren't part of God's eternal operation. What does eternal mean? It's not bounded by time or space. Therefore, we and I speak for myself, but you probably all feel otherwise, when we look at these great saints of the past, we probably think why on earth was this gift given to us to hear about when all these amazing saints could not operate it. Think of Margaret Mary Alacoque and the Sacred Heart. She could not enter into the eternal operation of God whereby the act now goes beyond time and space and impacts the whole of creation. Whereas we, with all our faults and all our failings, if we desire it, Jesus will do the rest. So we must understand the importance of Jesus' teaching is to get us to understand this is a different type of operation because now it is God operating in us. And therefore, it becomes infinite, perfect, and eternal. And by so doing we can at last give back to God what he's waited just short of 100 or so years, just short of 6,000 years to once again have this operation in the world.
So, I've been going a while. And just take a pause if there's corrections. So, Carolyn asks also, our acts will be complete. Correct, Father. Now, that question could refer to many different things. What we must remember is that when we use language and we understand why we would use our acts because we are doing them. But remember, they're not our acts in the sense they do not originate with us. So, yes, we're doing them, but once we have invoked the gift, they are no longer ours. That's absolutely crucial. They are not ours, they are God's. And being God's, they transcend time and place. They can be multiplied. They can be universal across time. Because God is now the operating principle. And therefore, yes, there is a completeness to an act we do. Because God cannot do unfinished works. It's It just would make us laugh, wouldn't it? If we said that God did something and it was like half done or not done very well, we'd say that makes no sense. So, yes, in that sense, if we remember that our cooperation means that it's God's acts and therefore there is a completeness, a perfection about every single one of them. No matter how tiny. And therefore, you can begin to see even more the greatness of Mary. So, think about the almost that they're not infinite because Mary's not an infinite being. But Mary's cooperation with God from the moment of incarnation meant that every tiniest thing is amplified to such a great extent because in Mary, there was no barriers to God's action. Anyone else like to ask a question or um chip in or give a testimony about this. So important to remember why and how important these these acts of ours are are.
>> Clarify can I clarify what you're trying to tell me, do you mind?
>> Hi Carolyn, what's your question?
>> Well, I just want to make sure I understand what you're saying.
>> So you're you're very broken you're very broken up.
>> Okay, is it better?
>> A little bit better.
>> Okay. I'm sorry, I don't know what's causing it. Then we live in the divine world where all of us is into every act. That's what it's infinite or feature or incomplete.
>> You're going to have to I think put it on the chat. You're going to have to put your
>> Okay.
>> on the chat.
>> Okay.
>> Then I'll then I'll be able to answer it. Annette, did you have a question?
>> Could you explain again what the word eternal means?
>> Right. We can define eternal, but remember that we can't have a sense of it. To give you an example, when Jesus comes back from the dead and rises, the apostles and the people that see him see a glorified body. Which means it's a body that has eternal life. Which means that it is not simply outside of time in the So, it's not in the sense eternal doesn't mean it's simply not bounded by time, which is what infinite means, but that it is a type of existence that is outside of time. It's a different mode of being. So, when we pray in the Requiem Mass, "Eternal rest grant to us, oh Lord." We are not just saying in heaven, "Well, it would be great where there won't be an end to it, but it will just as if it life is here, but it won't end." No, no, it's of an infinite magnitude above that. That's why they struggled. After all, surely they s- It must have just completely blown them away. And it did. But the difficulty is they are seeing something that they can't totally make sense of. Pope Benedict put it very well in his book, the second volume, when he's commenting on the resurrection, that Jesus is coming back in a way which he is in time because they are in time, but he's outside of time. He's not bounded by it. That's different from simply something that doesn't have an end. It's a a mode of being. So, eternal operation means God operates in a way that is completely of a different mode than we're used to because remember, God had to create time and space. You see, for for us, it's so difficult because we live in time and space, and we cannot, with the biggest effort in the world, get hold of what it would be to be not in time and space. That's the problem with defining things. We can give an answer. Eternal is a different mode of being which operates out of time and space. But we can't that's not going to give to us what that is like because if it did, we would just be like we'd be overcome with joy. If we had a moment of living in the eternal mode what we do, sorry. If we sensed, let me clarify because when our acts are divine acts, they're in the eternal mode, but if the soul then felt that it would just die of happiness. Remember, we're going back to this question of completeness. Remember, rather than think there's two senses of complete. One is that a particular act reaches the fullness that was contained in it. So that remember always with the gift, they are not our acts. They're God's and therefore they are complete. But complete can also mean in the sense that everything that was given to us to do in other words, the reordered version of our life where our life was perfect and that that our perfect version of our life is there to claim. Remember, we did a few talks a few months ago on this. They are also complete in the sense that everything that was to be given has been finished. That's the importance also of this gift because we must give to God not only the perfect version of our life but of every single soul that has ever lived even the souls in hell. In other words, a soul in hell still had a version of its life whereby it would have given total praise to God. It failed so that God in justice has to receive that. Question from Martha. The Blessed Virgin Mary is not divine and in eternal mode now following her example. The Blessed Virgin Mary was was never isn't right now divine. Only God is divine. But Mary from the moment of her conception her acts were in the eternal mode. They were animated by the Trinity and therefore they were divine. When she was assumed into heaven that meant that not only did everything that she did on earth continue to expand in heaven, but that she can now also, in a mysterious way, have a greater influence on her children. So, we've always got to mind ourselves when we use terms, and of course we have to, divine means of God. We can't do anything divine. Mary could not do anything with divine. She was a creature like us. But, in her immaculate conception, in being given this gift from the moment of her conception, and with nothing in her that hindered the work of God, shh her acts were in the eternal mode. They were divine acts. That's why that she is so great. Is it necessary to be aware of each of our acts while we are doing them, or does the prevenient act work in each act throughout the day? So, Jesus answers this. So, I can simply give you his answer, which is the prevenient act covers all of the acts so that, provided we do not sin, and provided we do not go back on our intention, everything we do that day is in the eternal mode of operation. But, Jesus says, during the day, he uses the image of clouds passing over the sun. We can lose a bit of concentration. We can lose attentiveness. So, he says to Luisa, "Therefore, during the day, renew the prevenient act. That does not mean to say we have to go through the full version we did in the morning. It could be just simply bringing to our mind the intention, remember intentionality is key, the intention again to do everything in the divine will." Jesus says both are unnecessary, the prevenient act and the individual recall of what we're doing during the day. Okay.
So, remember what we're emphasizing here is that importance. So, let's finish by going back to this volume entry of 20th of October, 1923. "In this field, remember the field he wants is the field of souls that will live in his will. In this field, my work is delightful. I do not get covered in mud when I sow because my will has converted it into a field of light. Its earth is virgin, pure, and celestial. And I amuse myself very much in sowing little lights in it, almost like a dew which forms the sun, s u n, of my will. How beautiful it is to see this field of the soul all covered with many drops of light, which, as they grow, form many suns. This sight is enchanting. All heaven is raptured at their sight. And they are all attentive on looking at the celestial farmer who cultivates this field with such great mastery and it possesses a seed so noble as to convert it into a son."
So, remember that Mary when she received this gift was filled with light. So, the Trinity had to work a miracle that the light in her was contained. So, that otherwise people would not have been able to look at her. So, full of light would she would have been. But, the miracle was then like with Jesus this light that comes with a divine act has to be shielded. And the same applies to us. Remember that. We do not experience or see what Jesus is talking about in this diary and allow when we do an act in the divine will which means God is operating that act is God, that act is light. But, God shields us from seeing it. For different reasons, also to stop pride to keep us humble. But the light is still real. Think of a baby. I did a baptism on Saturday. I did a baptism at mass today. The child is baptized. At that moment, the Trinity takes up residence. The soul is full of light. But no one in the baptism notices it, sees it. That's why Jesus only showed this light on two occasions. One we know in scripture, the transfiguration. The other we know through mystical revelations was at his birth where that light shone [snorts] forth. And if that light had not then been Um what's the word? Uh shrouded, stopped. The kings, the shepherds could never have left. They could never have left. What if you are in the presence of that light, you can never leave it. Those people that have had certain out-of-body experiences relate that they were in a light so beautiful that they never wanted to leave. And that coming back was a shock. So, that should also give us great encouragement to really be attentive to our acts, to really when we're doing them keep reminding ourselves. I'm boiling the kettle. But, God give me on loan give me this gift so that this boiling of the kettle becomes one of your acts and therefore infinite perfect eternal. It impacts all creation. Being light and being of you, it lasts for all eternity. There's an angel to take it to heaven and guard it and worship it. This is why keep coming back to the simple things of how important what we're doing even if to us it seems ordinary. Good. It's good to be back. And next week perhaps what we will do is continue with this and then show uh the other part of it which is how it consoles God. So, maybe if one of you could just refresh my mind if I forget that we're going to continue and recap what we've said today, but then we're going to look at not only how it gives perfect praise to God, but how it then consoles the heart of Jesus. Good. Any final comment? Brunella, as always, has come up with a much more incisive note. Within the atom each proton and neutron contains three quarks bounded by gluons. A molecule is larger than individual atoms. What is also amazing, this whole idea of divine acts impacting all creation past, present, and future, they are beginning to tread in physics, quantum mechanics. This mystery of how particles can instantaneously affect other particles at a great distance, and they can't explain it. It's an example where nature is giving us insight into the truths that we've been talking about today.
Okay. Let's finish with prayer as always. And let us, as always, first thank God for giving us all these teachings hidden in the mind of God until Luisa. Let's thank Jesus through his great suffering prepared the way for this kingdom, and for Mary who being our mother so wishes us to enter into this kingdom. So, we ask you, Lord, to remove from us any hindrances, anything that stops the divine operation, to make us attentive, and have a great intention to so that understanding better we can operate the gift better and produce more fruit and more harvest. And may the Lord grant you a quiet night and a perfect end and may his blessing come upon you the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
>> Amen.